Stage of development and implementation

In 2017 the first qualifications were officially referenced to the Austrian NQF. The qualification obtained at vocational schools and the apprenticeship examination can now be found at NQF level 4, the final examination taken at vocational colleges was referenced to NQF level 5. The qualification title of ‘Engineer’ (Ingenieur/Ingenieurin according to Engineer Act 2017) was referenced to NQF level 6.

The NQF Act entered into force in March 2016 and was developed to provide a legal basis for the Austrian NQF and to legally define the procedure of referencing formal and, in a second phase of implementation, non-formal qualifications to the eight-level structure. The work programme of 2017 focused on the referencing of the most significant formal qualifications obtained in initial vocational education and training, while qualifications of the Bologna Architecture were referenced ex lege to NQF levels 6-8. The 2018/2019 work programme focused on the establishment of NQF service points that enable the referencing of non-formal qualifications to the NQF and which are authorized by the minister of education, science and research. Since November 2019, the NQF service points are in operation and in the preparation of mapping requests. The first non-formal qualifications were mapped to the NQF in 2020.

In an ongoing process, the NCP aims to optimize the cooperation with the NQF service points in order to ensure the high quality standards in the mapping process as well as to streamline process steps to foster low-threshold service in the procedures. You can get general information on the Austrian NQF Register: the qualifications it includes and their most significant learning outcomes.

Background and stages of development

Based on the results of a national consultation carried out on the subject of the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning in the years 2005/2006, which yielded a total of 270 responses by national stakeholders, the decision to launch an NQF for Austria was taken in 2007. An analysis of the results of this national consultation was conducted by a group of experts and formed the foundations for the onset of the formal decision making process on the NQF in early 2009 marked by the presentation of the NQF position paper. The NQF position paper presents the building blocks of the Austrian NQF and the respective agreements on additional mandates to the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research as the responsible ministry, and was adopted by the Council of Ministers in late 2009.

In 2010 the Austrian National Coordination Point (NCP) was set up and started its communication activities by offering a nationwide ‘NQF Roadshow’ as well as a seminar series named ‘Fit for NQF’, both designed to raise awareness of the NQF and its learning outcomes approach in the wider public.

Also in 2010, the work on criteria and procedures for referencing qualifications to the NQF’s levels commenced. A draft manual to support qualification providers in the process of referencing their qualifications to the NQF was produced and was piloted in 2011 through a first practice test, assessing its feasibility for the referencing of formal qualifications. This initial pilot phase was followed by a second pilot phase in 2013, which focused on assessing the practicability of the same documents for the purpose of referencing non-formal qualifications.

Results of both pilot phases have been carefully analysed and have led to a revision of the NQF manual, its criteria and procedures.

The work programme of 2015 focused primarily on the refinement of the procedure of referencing qualifications to NQF levels and the definition and distribution of responsibilities of the involved committees. A legal basis was developed that should stipulate the exact procedure, which will guarantee objective and sound referencing on the basis of learning outcomes and performed by experts. The NQF Act entered into force on March 15th2016.

The first qualifications were officially referenced to the Austrian NQF in 2017. The final exam taken at vocational schools and the apprenticeship examination can now be found at NQF level 4, the final examination taken at vocational colleges was referenced to NQF level 5. The qualification title of ‘Engineer’ was referenced to NQF level 6.

The work programme of 2017 focused primarily on the assignment of NQF levels to qualifications obtained in the formal education and training system, while the second implementation phase starting from 2018 continued with the referencing of further qualifications from formal education and training as well as the establishment of NQF service points that support and enable the referencing of non-formal qualifications.

See results of this process, continually being made public.

At all stages of development and implementation national stakeholders are actively involved in the process. They are represented by the NQF Steering Group, which consists of representatives of all major institutions of the Austrian qualifications landscape, including representatives of federal ministries, social partners and the provinces. The NQF Steering Group is involved in all major decision making processes related to both the development of the framework and the referencing of qualifications to its levels.

NQF development and implementation are conducted in close cooperation with the Austrian Lifelong Learning Strategy and national Bologna developments, and are closely linked to the implementation of educational standards in VET (Bildungsstandards der Berufsbildung). Synergies with other European tools are fostered by closely coordinating their implementation at the national level (e.g. ECVET). A national strategy on the validation of non-formal and informal learning was developed in line with the Council Recommendation of December 2012, aiming primarily at providing a platform for improved quality and accessibility to already existing validation initiatives.   The strategy contributes to the realisation of a comprehensive national qualifications framework..

In late 2020, the NQF Steering Group founded an ongoing working group to outsource discussions on meta-levels, e.g. the potential for optimization in the mapping process, guidelines and guiding questions to ensure transparency and reliability in all the steps of the process.  NQF development and implementation are conducted in close cooperation with the Austrian Lifelong Learning Strategy and national Bologna developments, and are closely linked to the implementation of educational standards in VET (Bildungsstandards der Berufsbildung). Synergies with other European tools are fostered by closely coordinating their implementation at the national level (e.g. ECVET).

A national strategy on the validation of non-formal and informal learning was developed in line with the Council Recommendation of December 2012, aiming primarily at providing a platform for improved quality and accessibility to already existing validation initiatives. The strategy contributes to the realisation of a comprehensive national qualifications framework. In December 2019, a call for proposals under the Erasmus+ Programme Key Action 3: Support for policy reform European Policy Experimentation in the fields of Education and Training led by high-level public authorities was issued by the EACEA, one of the priority themes being policy and processes to support the validation of non-formal and informal learning, including through effective guidance. A consortium of existing networks in that area formed in order to tackle the challenge of the validation of transversal skills; the proposal got approved and the project TRANSVAL-EU – Validation of transversal skills across Europe started on February 28th, 2021 with a project lifespan of 30 months. TRANSVAL-EU aims to increase the knowledge and awareness of validation assessors, counsellors and career guidance practitioners on transversal competences through capacity building. The project strengthens cross-sector cooperation between practitioners, policy-makers and other stakeholders in order to build coherent VNFIL systems.

Objectives

The Austrian NQF is a reference system intended to classify qualifications of the Austrian education and training system by means of an eight-level structure. The Austrian NQF functions as a tool for information, guidance and orientation. It does not serve as a regulator and the referencing of qualifications to a certain NQF level does not grant any legal rights or entitlements to qualification holders.

Throughout the process of NQF development, national stakeholders have found a consensus that the Austrian NQF should pursue first and foremost the following strategic objectives:

• To increase the transparency of education systems in Europe and at national level for the benefit of citizens, based on a system of easily understandable and comparable qualifications;
• To facilitate the comparability of qualifications and education systems with the EQF (and the individual NQFs) and thus enhance understanding of the Austrian qualifications system in Europe;
• To further develop learning outcome-orientation;
• To introduce a credit transfer system based on the ECTS model;
• To promote the mobility of learners, students, teachers, academics/scientists and administrative personnel as much as possible;
• To promote permeability within and between the formal and non-formal areas of the education system in line with the principle of lifelong learning and thus strengthen the principles and methods of mutual recognition and credit transfer of qualifications;
• To promote the European dimension in the higher education (HE) sector.

Design and structure

The Austrian NQF was designed as a comprehensive framework. In its implementation it will encompass qualifications from all sectors of the Austrian education and training system. Alongside qualifications obtained in formal education and training, the Austrian NQF started to display qualifications from the non-formal sector (i.e. adult education and CVET) in 2020.

Like the EQF, the Austrian NQF comprises eight levels. This number of levels has been considered appropriate by various studies on the implicit levels of the Austrian education system and NQF pilot projects, and has received clear support from stakeholders’ responses to the national consultation on the EQF.

The NQF descriptors are based on the EQF descriptors and describe learning outcomes in three dimensions (knowledge, skills, competence). To support qualification providers in the process of referencing their qualifications to an NQF level, the NQF manual provides more detailed specifications that put the EQF descriptors into a more practical and national context.

At levels one to five, qualifications of all education sectors are referenced on the basis of the NQF descriptors. At levels six to eight, two sets of descriptors apply – the NQF descriptors and the Dublin descriptors. Whereas qualifications of the Bologna architecture acquired at HE institutions (bachelor, master, PhD, diploma studies) are referenced according to the Dublin descriptors, referencing of all other qualifications is carried out on the basis of the NQF descriptors.

NQF, EQF and QF-EHEA

The levels of the Austrian NQF were referenced to the levels of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) in 2012. A comprehensive EQF Referencing Report was prepared by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research. It specifies how the implementation process of the Austrian NQF complies with the ten referencing criteria as defined by the EQF Advisory Group as well as the criteria and procedural standards for the tertiary sector of the QF-EHEA. The report thereby demonstrates full compatibility of the Austrian NQF with the EQF and the QF-EHEA and was adopted by the EQF Advisory Group, Brussels, in June 2012.

Current developments

With the adoption of the NQF Act, which entered into force on March 15th 2016, the legal basis for a referencing procedure that is led by experts, objective, and that reflects the complex structure and governance of the Austrian national qualifications system was provided. The referencing procedure is set out in the NQF Act. Here, the responsible ministries/institutions send a referencing application to the NCP. This carries out the check of the form and content of the application and presents it to the NQF Steering Group, which may raise an objection. The application must contain detailed and comprehensible justification for the referencing to the desired level, the qualification itself has to be described in learning outcomes.

The first implementation phase was focused on the ‘referencing’ of the formal education and training system. All qualifications that have gone through the procedure as regulated by the NQF Act and have thereby been referenced to an NQF level will subsequently be made public via the national NQF register. This register is publicly available and provides information on qualifications, their NQF level, and their core learning outcomes. The database will be linked to the EQF portal and will thereby yield better visibility and comparability of Austrian qualifications at the European level.

Furthermore, quality-assured procedures for the referencing of qualifications obtained in the non-formal sector (i.e. sector of adult education and continuing vocational education and training (CVET)) were designed and enable the inclusion of non-formal qualifications in a second implementation phase, which began in 2020. So-called NQF service points are established and play a central gate-keeping and quality-assuring role in this context. With the help of the NQF service points it will be possible to identify and reference further non-formal qualifications to the Austrian NQF. Together with a stronger focus on formal qualifications, it is the aim to reference a considerable number of qualifications to the Austrian NQF within the next three years.